New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-04-03
THREE ENGLISH NOVELS.
= AMBITIOUS, MARINE AND PASTORAL.

TIE GOLDEN HOPE A Romance of the Deep. by W.
CLARK RUSSELL Harper Brothers. FRANKLIN SQUARE
Library
THE wOODLANDERs. A Novel BY THOMAS HARDY
Harper & Brothers Franklin Square Library
Mr.. Blaclmore has done some excellent work in
his last novel, and Of this part recalls though 1t
does not equal his best writing. 1t Is not indeed
to be hoped that he will again strike the high plane
of Lorna Doone,' but he gives US the impression
in moro than ono Of his later stories that he is
subject to fits of impotence carelesucss. during
which he suffers his standard to decline quite per
ceptibly. "Sprnghaven7 is decidedly uneven.
though on the whole a wcll-wrtten tale and fun
of Characteristic touches 1t is tale Of the
wars the time being Just before and after the
rupture Of the Peace Of Amcns, and the main scene
being fishing village tho English coast, so stu
atcd to present special advantages 10 the eye OF
an intending invader rs q landing place lp'n IL
Napoleon fixed for that great descent which was t.
| eXtinguish English freedom for which camp and
flotilla were established and collected at BouloSnc
and which seems finally to have been waIdcd of by
one Of those apparently fortuitOus events which
nevertheless may well be considered rroyGcntial
OF course NAPOLEON never uld have made his mr.
rangemcnts for the landing at SplinShavcn with
out the aid of treason on the whitccliis Of Albion
and the traitor appears in the person OF CHiyl
Carnc, very fundamentally bad young man
than either Indeed this Caryl Carnc is an ofTcnc"
and a stumbling block. The description OF The
simple placid, selfish life Of the Springhavcn fish
crmen with the village patriarch, Zebcd,e Tug
wells portrait, is fun of Mr.. Baclmorc's best
! flavor. The old Admiral PaIson Twcmow, Lord
! Nelson the fair sisters Faith and Dorothy, are
natural of their time and clcanly dcciihcred. But
| Iaryl Carnc, with his stage VllanicS, his bitter
moods. his adIot manGuyrnrs, his oycr-actinS IN
everything, his affiliations with the Corsair ana
| Lara, seems almost much out OF place as one OF
/ Mrs Radclinc's heroes would be in tho pages OF
! Ihackcrav. lie moves apart, indeed, owning n
! sympathy with his contemporaries, but lfS pres
| cnce never seems natural even tolerablc, ana
| when he eliminates his wicked career with the
wholly unnecessary md wantonly brutal murder
of tie poor lovablc old Admiral the reader cannot
but feel arronlcd by tic extravaganza OF the
action feeling not diminished when the supcrla-
lively stacy retrbution upon the villain Is r ached
There is false note in all this part Of the tale.
and it detracts from the general effect.
Some objection, too, may be taken to the treason
of Dolly, who is at the last greatly dcscneiaied
from tie nice eirl who appeared at the beginning,
and whose character has changed decidedly for
the worse that il is difficult TO sympathhe with
Young Scudamorcs JOY ut winning her IN the end
With q young woman at once selG-willcd and
Unbalanced the sailor might be expected TO have
trouble in store. Nelson and Napoleon both ap-
| pear and the portraits are carefully studied am
striking. Tie hero OF trafalgar (wlich fatal VIC
tory closes the stony IS rep cscnted os restless
eager for glory inclined TO grumbc at his want OF
pecunia'y means, but an opcn-heartcd man, put
ting duty - his county before everything. HI
foiblcs are dclcatcy animated rather than drawn.
and his great soul Is made 10 shine out through
/ If In
mcant-as for that matter what the general pa
| ,riotism OF most times mcans-B subly shown and
with wcIl-tcmpcrcd Judgment Mr.. Elacltmore j.
tull of sterling love Of country but lie has fine
vein Of sarcasm and he perceivcs how dominant
love of self usually is even in the most extent OF
professors. There j. much charming &C pit on 81
country scenery. 1t is rcdOlcnt Of open-ar Study
and coIchcd i'll excellent English, Of which, Wich
lie pleases Mr. Blacllmorc is past master The
story Is far below his best work. but 1t is much
above his poorest, and contains enough that Is ad
milable to make us wish That the author had be
slowed like care upon it all.
When Mr. Clark Russell began to write his
pictures Of the sea under many aspects were re-
ccived with the pleasure their freshness. truth and
enthusiasm deserved. Scarce any one had ana
lyzed old Oceans moods and phases with so much
care and love, and perhaps 10 writer had set down
! his observation upon them so clearly and fully.
Mr. Jnlsscll's "a Stories too were strong with the
strength Of fun knowledge. Since MarIyatt no
body has written half so under>tandinSy about the
life Of The sailor, though il must be said that Mr.
Russell has nothing Of the wit and dash which keep
the life in Marryatts stories despite the lapse
of time 1t is true that the modern author has
the more difficult task. 1t Is much easier TO create
interest in the doings Of man-of-wars men in war
| In of 1Im NOR han tepap N
in times of peace Nevertheless it will have to be
admitted that Mr.. Russell is not clever at dialogue
and that lie is apt TO boone pfOsy when running
down tie trades with his tacks hauled fiat aft
But bis worst fault and il Is ono which grows on
him, is excess in the kind OF trick called word
PAINTING" In the story before us he fairly riots
in this. At every Ia9e he is calling us
to see how finely he Can describe a
sunset at sea, or the color Of the
water at dawn, or the appearance Of tic sky
before q storm, or the aspect OF the waves in
fresh breeze. the ship in which the story is
proceeding. And as for the ship, we are invited
TO study her from truck TO keekon. from the taft
iail to tho flying jbboom, and from the royals to
the courses in every conceivable light, under
every conceivable kind OF weather, in every con
ceivable change OF arrangement, from stunsails
allow and aoft to q storm trysail. Now while little
OF this raptuyous description tmparts salt iiavor
and keeps US reminded that we are aiioat,t is easily
possible 10 have too much Of it. and good deal
too much Mr.. Russell provides. Necessarily. too
this kind Of writing involves considerable rcpeti
tion and tautology enters into many Of the clabo
rate pictorial passages TO a depressing extent.
The Golden Hope is nevertheless "a capital
story. We hold that 1t would have been much
better for judicous pruning but the reader can
always skip when the beauties of the sea become
too oycrIowcring for him, and with this recourse
lie will find the tale attractive enough The super
natural has struck so deep root in fiction recently
that ono almost expects il at present, and Mr..
russell has not escaped the prevailing influence.